Nov. 16 NORTH CAROLINA----impending execution Lawyer asks governor for clemency for killer----Defense wants Easley to change sentence to life in prison Death is a just punishment for Kenneth Lee Boyd, a prosecutor told Gov. Mike Easley on Tuesday, urging him to deny clemency to the killer set to die next month for murdering his wife and her father 17 years ago. "This is a horrendous crime when it was committed, made harsher by the fact that when it was committed it was done in front of the defendant's three small children," District Attorney Belinda Foster said after her private meeting with Easley. "Justice was served at the time that the jury returned the death verdict. This family is in one accord that this execution should go forth." Boyd, 57, was convicted in the March 1988 shooting deaths of his estranged wife, Julie Curry Boyd, and her father, Thomas Dillard Curry, at Curry's Rockingham County home. Boyd's attorney argued Tuesday his client is a good person who tried to make his marriage and family life work. "For a lot of reasons, he just went over the edge emotionally and did something that he is as remorseful (about) as he can possibly be," defense lawyer Tom Maher said. "He is simply not the worst of the worst, tragic as this crime was." Maher wants Easley to change Boyd's sentence from death to life without parole. The state plans to put Boyd to death Dec. 2. Two former jurors who Maher said felt as if they were pushed by others into voting for a death sentence accompanied Maher on Tuesday, although they did not meet with Easley. "They were under the impression that somehow once you believe it was premeditated that was the end of the issue," Maher said. Foster said the jury was instructed that if they decided Boyd was guilty, there would be another phase of the trial to determine his punishment. The only options after Boyd's conviction on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder were death or life in prison. "They're out for a couple of days debating something so if it wasn't death or life, I don't know what was being debated," Foster said. Boyd and his wife had separated periodically, and she was living with her father at the time of their deaths. Maher said Boyd had been drinking and suffered from frustration over his marriage when he killed his wife and father-in-law, crimes to which he later admitted. A judge in Rockingham County has scheduled a Friday hearing on Maher's latest appeal. ***************** Legal think tank to study DNA use----Center will analyze use of scientific evidence, wrongful convictions In Greensboro, the American Judicature Society, a nonpartisan group promoting an effective justice system, will establish a think tank devoted to using science to convict the guilty and free the innocent. The society, based in Des Moines, Iowa, will establish its Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy in downtown Greensboro, Mayor Keith Holliday said Monday. The institute's work will include considering the best ways to handle and analyze DNA evidence, which has overturned 160 wrongful convictions in the past 13 years. "It's not enough to get the innocent man out of jail and the guilty man off the street," said former Attorney General Janet Reno, who will serve as a co-chair of the institute's agenda-setting commission. "We have to find out how a wrongful conviction takes place and make sure it doesn't happen in the future." Institute officials said they hope to begin work in January and will be involved with other state and local organizations, including the Elon University School of Law, which is expected to open in downtown Greensboro next fall. The AJS received $590,000 in incentives from local foundations and individuals, said Jim Melvin, president of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation. (source for both: Associated Press) UTAH: Death row killer wants to withdraw plea----Testimony is heard: He pleaded guilty 12 years ago, but now wants a jury to decide his sentence Defense attorney John Caine compares Douglas Lovell's crimes to those committed by the infamous Hi-Fi Shop killers, who forced 5 people to drink Drano and then shot them, resulting in three deaths. An Ogden jury sentenced the Hi-Fi killers to die, and Lovell - who kidnapped and killed his rape victim to keep her from testifying against him - would have fared no better with a panel of 12 peers, Caine told 2nd District Judge Michael Lyon on Tuesday. "It was an ugly case," Caine said of Lovell's slaying of Joyce Yost, 39. On Caine's advice, Lovell pleaded guilty to capital murder 12 years ago and let a judge, rather than a jury, decide his fate. The death row inmate now wants to withdraw his plea. Testimony is being heard on the case at the request of The Utah Supreme Court. Lovell, 47, claims he really wanted a jury to sentence him, but that Caine essentially promised him then-2nd District Judge Stanton Taylor would never impose the death penalty. "He [Caine] was wrong," Lovell stated in a letter he wrote to Stanton soon after his June 1993 sentencing hearing. Caine testified Tuesday he advised Lovell that "in my professional opinion, [the judge] would not impose the death penalty. And, conversely, I was sure a jury would [impose death]. "I thought the case had things in it that made it as egregious as the Hi-Fi case, in some respects, and equally abhorrent to citizens," Caine testified. Caine said he believed Lovell might get a measure of mercy from the judge, especially considering Lovell's apparent efforts to lead police to Yost's body, which was never found. Caine - who has handled about 3 dozen capital cases during his 30-year career - noted that Hi-Fi killer William Andrews is the only client who has been condemned to die. Andrews was executed by lethal injection in 1992. Co-defendant Pierre Dale Selby was executed by lethal injection in 1987. Lovell raped Yost in April 1985, after following the South Ogden woman home from a club. She testified against him at a June 1985 preliminary hearing. But before a trial was held, Lovell kidnapped her in August 1985 and drove her into the mountains east of Ogden, where he strangled her and buried her in a shallow grave. Prosecutors convicted Lovell of raping Yost by using her preliminary hearing testimony. But her disappearance remained a mystery for another 6 years. Then, in 1991, Lovell was inadvertently caught confessing to killing Yost, when his recently divorced wife wore a recording device during a visit with Lovell at the Utah State Prison. Lovell's defense team had asked Lovell's ex-wife, Rhonda Buttars, to come to court and testify on Tuesday. But they balked after learning Lovell wanted her questioned about her alleged role in Yost's slaying and about other crimes they purportedly committed together. Buttars - who was granted immunity by prosecutors - dropped Lovell off at Yost's house on the night of the murder, and she was present when Lovell later destroyed evidence. Defense attorney Ryan Bushell said he felt questions about Buttars' alleged crimes would be irrelevant and possibly detrimental to Lovell's case. Deputy Weber County Attorney William Daines claimed that bringing Buttars to court was simply "an attempt by Doug Lovell to punish the main witness against him." Judge Lyon agreed that her testimony would not be helpful. "It's not relevant," Lyon told Lovell. "It just isn't. They chose to give her immunity, and it's over." The hearing continues today with testimony from Lovell's father. (source: The Salt Lake Tribune) NEW YORK: Death penalty opponents speak out "End the death penalty for good" was the battle cry of opponents at a forum in Kingston last night. Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston, who has opposed capital punishment throughout his political career, said that while the state may not have an effective death penalty law right now due to a court ruling, there is always the chance it can be revived. "What has changed, however, is that the capital defenders office in New York State, part of the law that was originally passed, was decimated," he said. "We have a Court of Appeals where there are cases still in the pipeline that could be heard by the court. We have changing personnel on the court and we have a possibility that the court could rule another way on some of those pending cases and it would make a bad situation worse since the capital defenders office is gone." Cahill said society must be more vigilant to preserve the rights of all people. (source: Mid Hudson News) OHIO----impending execution Panel votes against clemency for killer John R. Hicks said he was under "cocaine psychosis" when he killed his mother-inlaw and stepdaughter. The Ohio Parole Board did not buy John R. Hicks' excuse that he was under "cocaine psychosis" when he murdered his mother-in-law and stepdaughter. As a result, the panel recommended 8-0 yesterday that Gov. Bob Taft not spare the life of the Cincinnati killer. Hicks, 49, faces lethal injection Nov. 29 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville, barring intervention by the governor. He has no legal appeals remaining. Parole board members, while acknowledging that Hicks' drug usage affected his judgment, concluded it did not force him to commit "2 entirely unprovoked attacks which resulted in two needless deaths." Hicks was high on crack cocaine on Aug. 2, 1985, when he strangled Maxine Armstrong, 56, his wife's mother, and stole $200 to $300 from her Cincinnati apartment, according to court records. After leaving to buy more drugs, he returned several hours later to kill the only witness - Brandy Green, 5, his stepdaughter. Hicks tried to smother the sleeping girl with a pillow, but when she struggled he used duct tape to seal her mouth and nose. Stealing his wife's car, Hicks fled to Knoxville, Tenn., where he turned himself in and confessed to his crimes. Attorney Marc D. Mezibov argued to the board that Hicks' death sentence was "neither fair nor appropriate" because cocaine psychosis made him irrational, unpredictable, paranoid and violent. The attorney general's office and the Hamilton County prosecutor countered that Hicks acted in a deliberate, purposeful and premeditated fashion and deserved to be executed. In the end, the brutality of the crimes turned the board against Hicks. Hicks would be the 4th man executed in Ohio this year and the 11 th in the past 2 years. That is the most in a twoyear span since 1949-50 when 19 men died in the electric chair. (source: Columbus Dispatch) ILLINOIS: Former death row inmate loses suit against CPD----Claim said police framed man Former death row inmate Anthony Porter lost his civil lawsuit against Chicago police Tuesday. His release from death row was instrumental in stopping executions in Illinois. Anthony Porter was suing the city for $24 million, alleging Chicago police framed him for murder. But after deliberating for about 6 hours Tuesday evening, the jury decided the city owes him nothing. Attorneys for the city and the detectives who investigated the case say they still believe Porter is guilty. It was a triumphal moment more than 6 years ago. Anthony Porter left prison after 18 years, most all of it on death row. He became an instant symbol for alleged police corruption and problems with the death penalty in Illinois. After attorney Dan Sanders and a group of Northwestern journalism students found evidence of Porter's innocence, another man, Alstory Simon, eventually confessed to the murders Porter had been convicted of. But jurors in the civil trial against the city apparently were unconvinced. "We successfully showed that it was truly Anthony Porter that committed this murder," said Walter Jones, City of Chicago attorney. "Given our side of the story, a reasonable person would hear it and say these detectives didn't do one thing wrong," said Charles Salvatore, retired Chicago detective. Porter, whose attorney's claim has an IQ of just 51, is said to be devastated by the decision. His family and supporters believe the jury, which included no African-Americans, should have been grounds for a mistrial. "They have come up with an all-white jury, that was the basis for a mistrial coming out of the gate. So we just know there's been a terrible miscarriage of justice," said Maurice Perkins, family friend. "When my daddy went to jail in '82 I was 11 years old," said Evelyn Porter-Newsome, Anthony Porter's daughter. Porter fired the attorney who devoted years to helping set him free, Dan Sanders. Nevertheless, Sanders says he still believes the officers framed Porter and should have been liable in the case. Detective Salvatore, however, says he did a thorough investigation in the case and feels like a huge burden has been lifted from his shoulders. (source: ABC News)
